Zechariah 5:5-11--A Vision of a Woman in a Basket

Zechariah 5:5-11
English Standard Version

A Vision of a Woman in a Basket
5 Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, “Lift your eyes and see what this is that is going out.” 6 And I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is the basket that is going out.” And he said, “This is their iniquity in all the land.” 7 And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket! 8 And he said, “This is Wickedness.” And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down the leaden weight on its opening.

9 Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward! The wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. 10 Then I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they taking the basket?” 11 He said to me, “To the land of Shinar, to build a house for it. And when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base.”

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The LORD allows Zechariah to see yet another vision, this time of a woman in a basket.  The basket represents the iniquity in all the Land, and when the cover was lifted off the basket, there was a woman sitting in the basket.  The name of the woman was "Wickedness" (the LORD is saying they may just be calling their sins mistakes, but He sees into their hearts and knows the wickedness that is there that they try to hide and cover up.  He knows they sin because they like it.)  The angel showing Zechariah the vision pushed the woman (Wickedness) back down into the basket and resealed the heavy lid.

Two women with wings (we would likely classify them as angels, but they are not called that as they do not speak a message to the prophet) pick up the basket and carry it away.  The prophet asks where it is being carried away to, and the answer is given "To the land of Shinar."  That would be Babylon. 

The people have already returned from Babylon, so this is not a prophecy of the Exile, but the LORD is going to cause their iniquity and wickedness to be taken away and left behind in the land of Exile, never to go back and pick it back up.  The people didn't stop sinning, and some of their sins were just as egregious, but they never again seemed to be tempted to worship graven images and they tried to be very careful to observe the Sabbaths.  Other things though were still hard for them as we see when Jesus starts His ministry by preaching the Sermon on the Mount, which convicts the people that they still have a heart issue.